The International Monetary Fund now says El Salvador’s bitcoin reserves grew through private donations after June 2025, not public money. That is a reversal. Earlier, the fund said the total had not moved and that coins were merely shifting between government wallets.
The finding surfaced alongside a preliminary agreement on El Salvador’s combined second and third reviews under a 40-month, $1.4 billion Extended Fund Facility. It clears the way for roughly $140 million in new financing, pending Executive Board approval. The country’s reserve has climbed from 5,968 bitcoin (BTC) at the program’s start in December 2024 to 7,764 BTC, according to the Bitcoin Office.
IMF documentation, supplied by Salvadoran authorities, verified that the accumulation since the first review “reflects private donations and that no public resources were used,” the fund said in a statement reported by Decrypt. It also said it expects no further bitcoin additions beyond those documented donations.
The reversal matters. Back in September 2025, an IMF communications officer told Decrypt the total quantity of government-owned bitcoin had not increased at all. Growth in El Salvador’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Fund, the officer said, reflected coins moving between wallets the state already controlled. Last year the fund committed to keeping those holdings unchanged as part of the program. Last year the fund committed to keeping those holdings unchanged as part of the program.
Under the EFF terms, El Salvador agreed to make merchant acceptance of bitcoin voluntary, collect taxes in dollars, and stop public-sector buying. The practical effect: the state was not supposed to spend public money adding to its holdings.
The new account sits uneasily with the government’s own claims. President Nayib Bukele’s administration has maintained throughout that it buys one bitcoin a day. As recently as August 28, the Bitcoin Office tweeted “EL SALVADOR JUST BOUGHT MORE BITCOIN — One BTC per day, every day! Consistency = winning,” attaching a treasury chart showing 31 coins added over 30 days. That position directly contradicts the IMF’s statement that no public resources were used and no further accumulation is expected. No one has disclosed who gave El Salvador the bitcoin, or how much each donor handed over.
The discrepancy is sharpest around the November 2025 acquisition. El Salvador disclosed a 1,090 BTC purchase worth roughly $100 million, its largest single-day acquisition at the time, taking total holdings to 7,474 BTC, The Block and Decrypt reported. The IMF’s latest statement does not say whether that purchase is among the accumulations it now attributes to private donations. Nor does it explain how a nine-figure acquisition could be funded entirely by donations the fund declined to itemize.
The IMF also said El Salvador is working to improve transparency around bitcoin holdings across various wallets. The two sides reached understandings on modernizing digital asset regulation and tightening governance and risk management around public-sector crypto holdings.
Majority ownership and operational control of Chivo, the state wallet launched alongside the 2021 Bitcoin Law, have passed to a private operator the IMF did not name, The Block and Decrypt reported. El Salvador retains a minority stake and responsibility for safeguarding customer assets.
The fund projects 4.5% growth this year, driven by investment, remittances and tourism. It wants public debt brought toward 80% of GDP by 2030.
Bitcoin traded near $81,000 on Friday, up 4.5% over the previous 24 hours, per The Block’s price data.
